The present invention relates to a transfer press, motor vehicle body press, press line or similar forming machine or facility comprising a transfer device with holding devices, which are moved by the press drive, for the gripping and transport of sheet metal parts through the forming machine, comprising at least one intermediate depositing device between two machining stations which has templates for the supporting of the sheet metal parts which can be moved by means of adjusting devices and movement deflecting devices in their height, their oblique position and horizontally with respect to the sheet metal part to be deposited and gripped by the holding devices.
Forming machines include multiple die presses, vehicle body presses, press lines, multistage presses, transfer presses on which sheet metal parts, also those of large dimensions, are formed, for example, into vehicle body parts. Because of the size of the sheet metal parts to be formed, the distance of the machining stages from one another and therefore the transport path is large.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,291, a transfer device in a forming machine is described which has an intermediate depositing device provided behind each machining stage. In this case, the transfer movement of the sheet metal parts from a machining stage into an intermediate depositing device and out of this intermediate depositing device into the machining stage that follows takes place by means of suction bars which are mounted on travelling carriages guided in running rails.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,318, an intermediate depositing device is described on which sheet metal parts are intermediately deposited. For this purpose, this intermediate depositing device has templates which can be adjusted with respect to their height and in their oblique position and in other movements. One of these movements is a correcting movement for the compensation of errors after the swivelling of the metal sheet. For this purpose, the mounting plate which carries the mounting of the intermediate depositing device is disposed horizontally in the direction of the transfer movement in rails and can be displaced by way of an adjusting device, a motor and a spindle.
An object of the present invention is to provide a forming machine in which a portion of the path of the transfer device is carried out by the intermediate depositing device in order to increase the number of strokes of the forming machine or facility and in order to enlarge the sheet metal parts to be transported. The transfer movement of the transfer device will intentionally be dimensioned to be shorter so that the intermediate depositing device will take over a portion of the whole transfer path.
This and other objects are achieved by the present invention which provides a forming machine comprising at least two machining stages, a transfer device with holding devices that are moved by a press drive for the gripping and transport of sheet metal parts through the forming machine, and at least one intermediate depositing device movably mounted along a transfer direction on horizontally extending rails between the two machining stations. The intermediate depositing device has at least one template for supporting the sheet metal parts. An adjusting device is coupled to the intermediate depositing device and adjusts the intermediate depositing device in height, oblique position and horizontally with respect to the sheet metal part to be deposited and gripped by the holding devices. The transfer movement of the holding devices is less than half the distance between two successive machining stages such that a partial path between the machining stages is not bridged by the transfer device, and the adjusting device has a range of action such than the intermediate depositing device is moved over the partial path.
In addition to an improved utilization of the forming machine, another advantage of the invention is the more favorable design of the transfer device while the possibilities of the depositing device are used without the requirement of having to design the intermediate depositing device in a more expensive or more complicated manner. In this case, the present invention moves away from the conventional idea that the transfer devices must cause the whole movement of the sheet metal parts.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.